Improvement in sewing-machines



UNITED STATES PHILANDER SHAW, OF ABINGTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPROVEMENT IN SEWING-MACHINS.

Specification forming part'of Letters lPatent No. 11,680, dated Septmui`w1;1'.18S-l.

To all whom. it may concern:

Be it known that I, PHiLArDER Sniw, of Abington, in the county of Plymouth and State of Massachusetts, have invented-a new and useful Improvement in Operating the ,Feeding-Roller of a Sewing-Machine; and I do hereby declare that the same is' fully described and represented in the following speciiication and the accompanying drawings, letters, figures, and references thereof.

Of the said drawings, Figure 1 denotes a rear end view of a sewing-machine having my improvement applied toit. Fig. 2 is an under side view of it. Fig. 3 is a vertical and longitudinal section taken through the middle of the table,y without representing the machinery aber e inland which forms no part of myinventlon. Fig. 4 will be hereinafter described.

Fig. 5 is a top View of my improved rack,

leather-holder of the feeding apparatus. Fig. -6'is an under side view of the saine. Fig. 7 is afront edge view of it. Fig. 8 is a longitudinal section of it. Fig. 9 is a transverse section of it, taken through one of its spring studs or points.

In the said drawings, A eXhibitst-he table or'frame, and B one of the shafts rof the n1achine, such shaft being set in rotation by two gears, C D, respectively applied to it, and the ily-wheel. shaft or arbor E.

.On the shaft B, I aiiix a cam, F, (see Fig.

4, which denotes a'section of it, and the wheel G, against which it operates,) which is made to act vagainst the periphery of the wheel G, that is fixed on a horizontal shaft, H. On the inner end of this shaft Hthere is a piniongear, I, which works into an internalV gear, K,

cut or formed on the feed-wheel L. This feedwh'eel operates through the bench and against the cloth in a manner well known. Its periphery is made rough or provided with teeth or scorings, and s uch wheel has an intermittent rotary mot-ion imparted to it.

The method of feeding the cloth or moving it under the operation` ofthe needle and shuttle when the cloth is moved by the feed-wheel` in direct contact with it will be found lin the patent granted to Issac M. Singer on the 12th day of August, A. D. 1851." My invention is anew combination, or an 'improved method for obtaining and regulating the said motion ofthe said feedwheel. I do not, however,

limit the application of the feeding apparatus of my invention to a feed-wheel to act directly 4against the clot-h, as the feed-wheel may be made and is often used to move a cloth-holder, in which case it acts in the toothed nick thereof, as will be hereinafter described.

The shaft H is supported near the pinon'l in a suitable bearing, M, such as will allow the wheel G to play toward and away from the shaft B. The opposite end of the shaft 1I is 1 sustained and turns in' a box, N, which is support-ed b v and slides freely between jaws O P of a plate, Q, that is aiiixcd to the frame of the machine, as seen in the drawings. This box or bearing N is attached to the upper end of a rod, R, Qn which there are screwed three nuts, C T U, Between the nut S and a projection, Y, from the plate Q there is a spring, XY, which is made to envelop the rod, and by bearing against the projection and the nut it causes the'wh'eel G to be pressed close up= against the cam F during a portion of the rotation of the said cam, or while said cam is rotating in contact with the wheel. The nut T, by acting against the opposite side of the projection V, serves as a stop to regulate the distance of thc periphery of t'he wheel G from the axis of the shaft B. By turning upsaid nut on its screw we draw thc wheel. G away from the shaft B, whereby we decrease the are of rotary movement of it, as produced bythe action of the cam F. By unserewing the said nut we increase the said arc. By means ofthe nut S we regulate the amount of friction bctween the cam F and the periphery of the wheel G. During the rotation of the cam F its` most projecting part is brought into contact with thel periphery of the wheel, and

while so remainingin conta-ct it will.tu111tl 1e' wheel, the spring V allowing the wheel and its shaft to give or move back under the pressure of the cam. The nut U serves as a binding-nut, its office being only to hold the nut V in place on its screw, and this it docs when screwed up against it.

O11 the shaft B, I place another cam, c, which, during the revolution of the shaft ,and while the cam F is in action on the wheel G, is made to act against one end of a spring, lg'aud move and keepl it away from the wheel G, so as to move a rubber or friction-brake, c, (that is attached )to the spring) from oi the side of the wheel. The cam a should be so formed as to permit the return of the friction-brake y 'f p v*11.650

against the side of' the wheel the moment the action of the cam F against it ceases. I do not always deem it essential to the correct operation of the feed-wheel that the said vfriction apparatus should be used; but as it insures' fined together at their two ends in any suitable way. This cloth-holder is intended to be used foi` holding-the leathers of a boot-leg, and

properly directing or presenting the same under the -needle 'during the sewing operation. The leathers are pl aced between the two clamplplates, gh, and are made to project beyond their edges far enough.` They are heldin place by points i z' l,"rcr, each of which projects from the under surface of the plate g,l

and is supported o'n 'a' spring, k, by which Iit is allowed to fall back and adapt it to the thickness of the leather, as bootleathersare of variable thicknesses, and inorderhto secure them by the. clamps it becomesnecessary to haveeach of the points placed on a spring.

This clamp, so made, has a round stud, l, exl tended down from its -lower surface, and ma-de to enter into a groove, m, cut transversely in a metallic plate, n, that extends back from a vtoothed rack, o. This rack, when used, isy

placed on the tcp of the tablepi" the sewingmachine, and so that its teeth shall engage with those of the feed-wheel L. 4While the v'can be guide feed-wheel moves the rack and tlreholder forward in a lon itudinal direction the holder or moved transversely, and .turned horizontally on-the pin Z, so as to prop orly present the l curved edge of the bootlleg to the needle, whereby the needle may be made to sew in any irregular(` curved line.

v 1 am aware that a cam or wiperv .operating against a friction-roller in one arm of a bent .lever made to work or depress a pawl to a ratchet is an old invention; also, that the.

length of longitudinal movement of such pawl has been regulated bym setting its joint-pin nearer to or fartherrorn `the fu'lcrum of the le ver. 1 therefore do not claim'any such con: `trivanee; but I clainb- The above-described combination applied tothe shaft H for imparting to'it an intermittent'rotary motion, so as to obtain the-.length of stitch, as specified, such combination consisting ofthe cani F, the wheel G, the movable or sliding box M, (or its mechanical equiva- Ient,)and the spring NV, applied together and to the shafts B and H, and made to operate substantiallyas above explained.

In testimony whereofl have hereto set my signature this 12thday of October, A. D. 1853.

PHILANDER SHAW. 

